Við göngum í gönguskónum okkar eftir mjóum stíg í átt að litlum fossi.

Við means we.

Göngum is the 1st person plural present tense form of the verb að ganga, which means to walk. So:

• að ganga = to walk
• við göngum = we walk / we are walking

Icelandic verbs change form depending on the subject, so you usually do not keep the infinitive after the subject the way you would in a dictionary entry.

Here í literally means in, but Icelandic often uses í with clothing or footwear where English would more naturally say in, wearing, or sometimes just leave it unspoken.

So í gönguskónum okkar means something like:

• in our hiking boots
• or more naturally in English, wearing our hiking boots

It is not describing movement into the boots. It describes the state of being in them.

Because í here takes the dative case, and gönguskónum is the dative plural definite form.

The base noun is gönguskór = hiking shoe / hiking boot. In this sentence, the meaning is the hiking boots, specifically our hiking boots, so the form changes.

A rough breakdown:

• gönguskór = hiking boots/shoes
• gönguskónum = in the hiking boots / in our hiking boots

The ending -num is a strong clue that you are looking at a dative plural definite form.

Yes. Gönguskór is a compound noun:

• göngu- = walking, hiking
• skór = shoe

So gönguskór literally means walking-shoe, i.e. hiking boot/shoe.

Compound words are extremely common in Icelandic, much like in German.

In Icelandic, possessive words like okkar (our) often come after the noun, especially in natural everyday phrasing.

So:

• gönguskónum okkar = our hiking boots

This word order is very common and natural in Icelandic. English usually puts possessives before the noun, but Icelandic often places them after it.

Here eftir means along or following.

So:

• eftir mjóum stíg = along a narrow path

This is a common use of eftir when talking about movement along something such as:

• a road
• a path
• a river
• a route

Because eftir takes the dative case in this meaning, both the adjective and the noun must be in dative form.

Base forms:

• mjór = narrow
• stígur = path

Dative singular forms:

• mjóum
• stíg

So:

• eftir mjóum stíg = along a narrow path

This is a good example of Icelandic case agreement: the adjective changes form to match the noun’s case, gender, and number.

Í átt að is a fixed expression meaning:

• in the direction of
• toward

So:

• í átt að litlum fossi = toward a small waterfall

It is best learned as a phrase, because the words work together to express direction.

Because the preposition að takes the dative case.

The base forms are:

• lítill = small
• foss = waterfall

In the dative singular, they become:

• litlum
• fossi

So:

• að litlum fossi = toward a small waterfall

Again, the adjective and noun match in case.

Icelandic does not have a separate word for a/an.

A bare noun often means an indefinite noun:

• stígur = a path
• foss = a waterfall

If Icelandic wants to say the path or the waterfall, it usually adds the definite article as a suffix to the noun:

• stígurinn = the path
• fossinn = the waterfall

So in this sentence:

• mjóum stíg = a narrow path
• litlum fossi = a small waterfall

Because Icelandic grammar marks a lot of information directly on words. Endings show things like:

• case
• number
• definiteness
• sometimes gender

For example:

• gönguskónum shows dative plural definite
• mjóum stíg shows dative singular
• litlum fossi shows dative singular

English uses word order and extra words more heavily, while Icelandic often packs that information into endings.

The word order is quite natural and straightforward.

• Við göngum = subject + verb
• then come phrases describing:
  • what we are wearing: í gönguskónum okkar
  • where/how we are moving: eftir mjóum stíg
  • direction/goal: í átt að litlum fossi

A natural English-like breakdown would be:

• We walk, in our hiking boots, along a narrow path, toward a small waterfall.

Icelandic word order is somewhat flexible, but this version is neutral and easy to understand.